News October 2010

In both its pure, elegant aesthetic and its exceptionally refined profile, the new Tonda 1950 meets the highest standards in terms of comfort and readability: a return to the basics which define a true classic.

Tonda 1950

With finesse

The Watch Quote™ - October 28th, 2010

The Tonda 1950 reinterprets the very essence of the Parmigiani style: its profile. Slender, finer, it is the perfect showcase for the brand's iconic signature - the four lugs, round and ergonomic. In rose gold or white gold, the Tonda 1950 is the new, extra-flat classic model featuring the key markers of time - hours, minutes and small seconds.

The 12 Parmigiani house calibres will be completed by a component essential for the rigourous and manifold exploration of the facets of time: the extra-flat self-winding movement. With a diameter of 30 mm (13 ¼ lignes) and a thickness of just 2.6 mm, the new PF 700 movement allows numerous interpretations of the aesthetic. In time, a date function will be added to the calibre, with its integration already planned so as to not disturb the delicate profile of the Tonda case, just 7.80 mm thick and 39 mm in diameter. With an autonomy of 42 hours, the movement has an off-centred micro-oscillating weight in platinum 950. Indicating the hours, minutes and small seconds, the graphite or white grained dial displays its twelve time zone indexes with understated grace. The principle behind its sophistication? fundamental beauty without interfering with the time.

Despite the delicacy of its profile, the movement still offers the finest haute horlogerie finishes you would expect from Parmigiani, and ones which very few brands would apply to such a mechanism. The nickel silver main plate is sand-blasted, circular-grained and then rhodium-plated. The bridges are sand-blasted, rubbed-down or "Côte de Genève" decorated, then bevelled by hand and, finally, rhodium-plated. Also note the attractive finish of each wheel, bevelled, sunk, circular-grained on both faces, then gilded before cutting.

The high standard of finish on each component is the result of a unique dovetailing of the different centres of competence that make up the Parmigiani Manufacture (The Foundation Watchmaking Manufactures), ensuring that each calibre produced is of the very highest quality. The movement and the entire exterior of the new Tonda 1950 are created entirely in-house, right up to the indexes on the dial.

The watchmaking skill inherent in the Tonda 1950, a slim, understated model, is also expressed in the delicacy of its details.